scholarly journals Mechanical Characteristics of Graphene Nanoplatelets-Modified Asphalt Mixes: A Comparison with Polymer- and Not-Modified Asphalt Mixes

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2434
Author(s):  
Laura Moretti ◽  
Nico Fabrizi ◽  
Nicola Fiore ◽  
Antonio D’Andrea

In recent years, nanotechnology has sparked an interest in nanomodification of bituminous materials to increase the viscosity of asphalt binders and improves the rutting and fatigue resistance of asphalt mixtures. This paper presents the experimental results of laboratory tests on bituminous mixtures laid on a 1052 m-long test section built in Rome, Italy. Four asphalt mixtures for wearing and binder layer were considered: two polymer modified asphalt concretes (the former modified with the additive Superplast and the latter modified with styrene–butadiene–styrene), a “hard” graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) modified asphalt concrete and a not-modified mixture. The indirect tensile strength, water sensitivity, stiffness modulus, and fatigue resistance of the mixtures were tested and compared. A statistical analysis based on the results has shown that the mixtures with GNPs have higher mechanical performances than the others: GNP could significantly improve the tested mechanical performances; further studies will be carried out to investigate its effect on rutting and skid resistance.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 9962
Author(s):  
Pedro Lastra-González ◽  
Irune Indacoechea-Vega ◽  
Miguel A. Calzada-Pérez ◽  
Daniel Castro-Fresno

The potential recyclability of healable asphalt mixtures has been analyzed in this paper. A healable porous asphalt mixture with steel wool fibers was artificially aged in order to assess its recyclability. This mixture was used as reclaimed asphalt in a new porous asphalt mixture, whose mechanical and healing capacities were studied and compared with the behavior of the original porous asphalt mixture. The quantity of reclaimed asphalt mixture added was 40%; besides, in order to recover the properties of the aged binder, and incorporate the last advances in the recyclability of bituminous mixtures, a rejuvenator was also added (SYLVAROAD™ RP1000). The voids test, Cantabro particle loss test, water sensitivity test, stiffness test, and fatigue resistance test were performed to mechanically study the experimental mixture, while the last one (fatigue resistance test) was also used to assess its healing capacity. The results have shown that the healing capacity of the original healable porous asphalt mixture is maintained with similar mechanical performance.


Environments ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Lim Min Khiong ◽  
Md. Safiuddin ◽  
Mohammad Abdul Mannan ◽  
Resdiansyah

This paper presents the results of a laboratory-based experimental investigation on the properties of asphalt binder and hot-mix asphalt (HMA) mixes modified by locally available crumb rubber, which was used as a partial replacement of asphalt by weight. In this study, fine crumb rubber with a particle size in the range of 0.3–0.6 mm, obtained from scrap tires, was added to the asphalt binder through the wet process. Crumb rubber contents of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 19% by weight of asphalt were added to the virgin binder in order to prepare the modified asphalt binder samples, while the unmodified asphalt binder was used as the control sample. The crumb rubber modified binder samples were examined for measuring viscosity indirectly using the penetration test, and temperature resistance using the softening point test. Later, both the modified and unmodified asphalt binders were used to produce HMA mixes. Two categories of HMA mix commonly used in Malaysia—namely, AC 14 (dense-graded) and SMA 14 (gap-graded)—were produced using the modified asphalt binders containing 5%, 10%, 15%, and 19% crumb rubber. Two AC 14 and SMA 14 control mixes were also produced, incorporating the unmodified asphalt binder (0% crumb rubber). All of the AC 14 and SMA 14 asphalt mixes were examined in order to determine their volumetric properties, such as bulk density, voids in total mix (VTM), voids in mineral aggregate (VMA), and voids filled with asphalt (VFA). In addition, the Marshall stability, Marshall flow, and stiffness of all of the AC 14 and SMA 14 mixes were determined. Test results indicated that the modified asphalt binders possessed higher viscosity and temperature resistance than the unmodified asphalt binder. The viscosity and temperature resistance of the asphalt binders increased with the increase in their crumb rubber content. The increased crumb rubber content also led to improvements in the volumetric properties (bulk density, VTM, VMA, and VFA) of the AC 14 and SMA 14 mixes. In addition, the performance characteristics of the AC 14 and SMA 14 mixes—such as Marshall stability, Marshall flow, and stiffness—increased with the increase in crumb rubber content. However, the AC 14 mixes performed much better than the SMA 14 mixes. The overall research findings suggest that crumb rubber can be used to produce durable and sustainable HMA mixes, with manifold environmental benefits, for use in flexible pavements carrying the heavy traffic load of highways.


Asphalt pavement is typically susceptible to moisture damage. However, it could be improved with the incorporation of additives or modifiers through binder modifications. The objective of the study is to assess the effect of adhesion promoters, namely PBL and M5000, onto the Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). The performance of asphalt mixture has been assessed in terms of the service characteristics, the bonding properties, and mechanical performances. The service characteristics were assessed through the Workability Index (WI) and Compaction Energy Index (CEI) to evaluate the ease of asphalt mixture during the mixing and compaction stage. The bonding properties of the modified asphalt mixtures were determined using the boiling water test and static water immersion test to signify the degree of coating after undergoing specific conditioning period and temperature. The mechanical performances of the modified asphalt mixture were evaluated via Marshall stability, semi-circular bending, and modified Lottman tests. All specimens were prepared by incorporating adhesion promoters at the dosage rates of 0.5% and 1.0% by weight of asphalt binder. From the investigation, the bonding properties significantly improved for the modified asphalt mixture compared to the control mixture. The WI of the modified asphalt mixture increased while the CEI decreased in comparison to the control specimen. This implies the workability of modified asphalt mixture is better and requires less energy to be compacted. Modified asphalt mixture generally had better mechanical performance. Therefore, it can be deduced that the asphalt mixture with adhesion promoters have better overall performance than the control mixture.


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